Reunited!

They are back!  Mai and Charlie, that is.  And of course I have to post some pictures...  I got to say hello yesterday.  These pictures are from today, when Daniel and Annie saw Charlie for the first time.  Daniel was sooooo cute...when Uncle Ben, Auntie Mai, and Charlie came in the house this morning, I was holding Daniel.  I said, "They are here!"  Daniel had the biggest grin when he first saw Charlie, and then when he saw Auntie Mai, he kept saying, "Mai!  Mai!  Mai!", and then when I put him down he ran up to her and hugged her legs about a million times...

In this first picture, it almost looks like they are saying to each other, "I can't believe it's you!"

Grandma is on cloud nine, having her two little boys back together again.  I think the boys look rather happy, too!

Annie cannot resist a soft cheek!  (She gets it from me...)

And who couldn't resist pinching those adorable, marshmallow cheeks?!

Daniel is rather happy to have Charlie home, can you tell?

Ben and Charlie were reunited yesterday, but these precious pictures were taken today...

You can enjoy many more pictures from today by clicking here!  Thank you Lord for bringing them back safely to us!

His Sovereignty Rules Over All

Psalm 103:19 - "The LORD has established His throne in the heavens, and His sovereignty rules over all."

This verse tells us that the LORD has set up His rule and He is reigning over everything.  (Note the 100% word.)  All things are subject to His power and control.  This is a truth that should bring us great comfort, especially knowing the character of God, that He is holy and perfect and just.  The LORD is ruling over what is happening all throughout His creation.  The Bible says that Satan is the ruler of this world (for now) but because of Psalm 103:19 we know he is on a leash and is only allowed what God sovereignly has ordained he can do.  (Remember Job?)  When it seems like evil and despair is overwhelming everything around us, this verse tells us that God is on the throne.  Evil bows to Him and serves His purposes.  Did God the Father not use the most heinous sin, the putting to death of His Son, to redeem His elect?

Scripture also tells us that God has a plan.  He is working towards a certain end.  His plan is the summing up of all things in Christ - Eph. 1:10.  Everything in history is going to add up to Jesus Christ as the centerpiece.  Romans 11:36 says that all things are from Him and through Him and to Him.  The LORD is on His throne, ruling all things to this end - to the glory of Jesus Christ.

I want to encourage you to put Psalm 103:19 to memory.  In all the upheaval we are seeing in the world, the LORD is in complete control, overseeing and orchestrating His plan.  As we get closer to the return of Christ, the sovereign rule of God over all things is what will steady our hearts.  Satan has access to heaven right now, because it has been granted to him by the LORD.  He is there, accusing the brethren, but without success.  He is, however, going to be thrown out of heaven, for good, and because he knows at that point his time of ruling this world is short, Satan's burning anger and frustrated rage is going to come upon the apple of God's eye and the church, like never before - Revelation 12:7-12, Matt. 24:21.  Satan's hatred has always been towards Israel and the saints, the objects of God's love.  I'm sure he despises it every time he loses one of the subjects from his kingdom to the LORD's.  Yet the LORD will be on the throne during the time of Satan's wrath, working out His purposes, just as He did at the death of His Son.  Romans 8 tells us one of those purposes is to show to us that absolutely nothing can separate us from His love.  Jesus will be lifted up in our lives during that time as the depth of His steadfast love for us will be put on display.  The world won't comprehend this, but we will.  Jesus love for us is infinitely stronger and more powerful than Satan's hatred for us.

The LORD has established His throne in the heavens, and His sovereignty rules over all.

A great truth bringing us great comfort...

Frank Turek on God

You want to know what God is like?  Remove all limits from your mind.  If He's an ounce of an attribute, He's infinite in that attribute.  If He's an ounce of love, He's infinite in that love.  If He's an ounce of justice, He's infinite in that justice.  If He's an ounce of knowledge, He's infinite in that knowledge.  If He's an ounce of power, He's infinite in that power.  He's the unchanging standard by which everything else is measured.  


Why is there a second commandment?  Because any image you make of an infinite being necessarily limits His majesty.  You can't make a picture of an infinite being.


Everything in our experience is finite, limited.  God is in another category.  He is infinite, He's unlimited.  That is why you can only comprehend God by analogy.  You can only comprehend God by using thought rather than images.  God is the standard by which everything else is measured.  That's why Psalm 103:11 says that God's love to those that fear Him exceeds the height of the heavens above the earth.  How high are the heavens above the earth?  Infinite from our perspective.  The heavens declare the glory of God.  You want to know what God is like?  Look to the heavens - even they are finite, but they are the closest thing in our experience - to limitlessness...


Hear his entire message by clicking here.

Lake Arrowhead

My mom treated all of her daughters (Karin, me, Betty Ann, Sherry C) and daughters-in-law (Sherry W and Maxine) to a night up at Lake Arrowhead Resort the first weekend of my visit.

                                        Sherry C, Me, Sherry W, Maxine

                                          Karin, Betty Ann, Mother

We caravanned up in two cars, arriving in time to get in a little shopping before dinner.  The food was fabulous and we all ate way too much!  Sunday morning we spent some time sharing our favorite passages of scripture and the two Sherry's and Betty Ann sang for us.  The weather was beautiful, allowing us to take an easy stroll by the lake after lunch.  There was still snow on the ground but it was sunny and warm - in the sunshine.  Before heading back down the mountain we browsed through some of the shops one more time.  It was a great, relaxing and fun twenty-four hours!  Thanks for sharing your retirement gift with us all, Mother!

Click here to see all the pictures...

A Few Pictures From My Trip

Here are a few pictures from my visit with Karin.  I've got thousands and thousands of images to cull and edit...well, maybe more like hundreds and hundreds.  Once I am finished I will post a couple of albums.

This first picture is of my great-nephew, Ethan, and his mommy and daddy.  We went to a park and did a photo shoot for them.  So sweet...

The first weekend I was there, my mom, sisters, and sisters-in-law spent a night up at Lake Arrowhead.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous.  We went for a stroll by the lake.  This is my mom and two of my sisters,  just being goofy.  We had such a fun time.  More about that later.  

While we were at the  park, I asked Garry, Ethan's dad, to take a picture of Betty Ann, Karin, and my mom...I snuck in it too...

Good news!  On Thursday, Mai and Charlie arrive home.  I can't wait to see the look on Daniel's face when he sees Charlie.  He's with me when Annie is at work and always wants to look at pictures of "Touchie".  He misses him and gets the real thing on Thursday!  He's been gone for two months.  I'm sure there will be updated pictures of my two grandson's very soon, too!

It was a great week with you Karin, thanks so much!  

  

Psalm 103

The LORD has established His rule and He is sovereign over all things.

He is mighty and powerful and His might and power are infinite.

We are frail.  In comparison to the LORD, we are dust. 

Yet, when we fear Him, when we revere Him, and recognize this vast difference between ourselves and our Creator, we become recipients of His limitless and never-ending lovingkindness and compassion and His righteousness.

He places us into the blessings of His grace.

David leads us the proper response:

    ¹Bless the LORD, O my soul,
         And all that is within me, bless His holy name.
    ²Bless the LORD, O my soul,
         And forget none of His benefits;
    ³Who pardons all your iniquities,
         Who heals all your diseases;
    ⁴Who redeems your life from the pit,
         Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;
    ⁵Who satisfies your years with good things,
         So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.
    ⁶The LORD performs righteous deeds
         And judgments for all who are oppressed.
    ⁷He made known His ways to Moses,
         His acts to the sons of Israel.
    ⁸The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
         Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.
    ⁹He will not always strive with us,
         Nor will He keep His anger forever.
    ¹⁰He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
         Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
    ¹¹For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
         So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him.
    ¹²As far as the east is from the west,
         So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
    ¹³Just as a father has compassion on his children,
         So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.
    ¹⁴For He Himself knows our frame;
         He is mindful that we are but dust.
    ¹⁵As for man, his days are like grass;
         As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
    ¹⁶When the wind has passed over it, it is no more,
         And its place acknowledges it no longer.
    ¹⁷But the lovingkindness of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him,
         And His righteousness to children's children,
    ¹⁸To those who keep His covenant
         And remember His precepts to do them.
    ¹⁹The LORD has established His throne in the heavens,
         And His sovereignty rules over all.
    ²⁰Bless the LORD, you His angels,
         Mighty in strength, who perform His word,
         Obeying the voice of His word!
    ²¹Bless the LORD, all you His hosts,
         You who serve Him, doing His will.
    ²²Bless the LORD, all you works of His,
         In all places of His dominion;
         Bless the LORD, O my soul!

When the Ground Moves...

My visit with Karin is winding down and we've had a great time.  I'll be sharing a photo album with you when I get home, Lord-willing... 

I grew up here in Southern California and have experienced many earthquakes.  When I married, I moved to the Bay Area, lived 200 yards away from the Hayward fault, and experienced several more earthquakes.  Tim and I then moved to Washington nine years later, and yes, we've been through even more earthquakes.  I've experienced big earthquakes and small earthquakes.  The bigger they are, the scarier they are.  On two previous visits with Karin, I've experienced earthquakes.  One happened last May while I was down, and another about twenty-five years ago.  Needless to say, I could tell you many earthquakes stories.  I've even got an embarrassing earthquake story...  When you are at your brother-in-law's house and there is an earthquake...remember to grab a robe...if you are in your skivvies...before you run out into the hallway...because he is probably going to run into the hallway too. (Hallways and doorways are supposed to be safer than in the middle of the room...)

A friend sent me an email article a couple of days ago.  It was about a mega earthquake that is being predicted in one of the America's, in the next couple of weeks.  I guess scientists are making an educated guess based upon increasing subtle electromagnetic signals that are being detected in the earth's upper atmosphere over many regions of the world.  The most intense right now are over the US western coastal and midwest regions.  Apparently, the quake that occurred in Christchurch, New Zealand was predicted based on similar electromagnetic readings.  One scientist explained his method for predicting earthquakes.  It is based on the alignment of the planets.  He said at the moment Jupiter and Saturn are on either side of the sun and are creating a tug of war with Earth in the middle.  That is why there have been several 7+ earthquakes recently.  On March 20th, the moon is supposed to be in a trigger position, so that is why a mega quake is being predicted.  

Jesus did say that an increase in earthquakes would be one of the signs that His return is approaching.  (MT. 24:7) He is even going to use a mega quake to announce His imminent presence, that He is about to gather the elect and then pour out His wrath on the wicked.  Not only will the natural lights go out, the earth will shake tremendously.  Those who have taken the mark will cower in fear at the presence of the Lord and desire to be swallowed up by the quake.  (Rev. 6:12-17)  At this point, we are to look up because our redemption is near.  (Luke 21:25-28)  The Lord's glory will then break through the darkness and shaking and we, His chosen, will be gathered by His reapers, the angels.  (Mt. 24:29-31)

The big earthquakes are noisy, like the sound of a freight train, and when the ground is shuddering beneath your feet, your heart begins to race.  But the sixth seal earthquake is an earthquake I will look forward to in great anticipation, if I am in the generation that sees the revealing of Antichrist, when he exalts himself as God in the temple.  Those who witness this exaltation by Antichrist, will be the generation that experiences this mega quake at His return.  (Mt. 24:32-34)  

Earthquakes are in God's plan.  He knows how long, how strong, and how frequent they will be.  He determines who will live and who will die by them.  When the wicked dies, He does not take pleasure in their deaths.  When His children die, their deaths are precious to Him.  To experience an earthquake is to experience the power of God.  Earthquakes remind us that we are to fear Him.  Knowing that He has said there is going to be one that announces His return demonstrates His power and control over them. Is there going to be a mega quake in one of the America's in the next few days?  Only the Lord knows, but whenever they occur, it should cause us to be in awe of Him, and I think this is one of the reasons - they are in His plan....